Motorola releases open-source portions of the Droid X source code

Not to be outdone by the competition, Motorola has released the open-source portions of the source code for the Droid X, too! All this open-source licensing agreement following is getting me teared up a little bit, even if a good bit of proprietary code remains under wraps. Moto has fully embraced the intent of open source, even if we tend to complain about efuses and bootloaders. The release of the code just might help in that area, too. Now get to it developers, see what you can wrangle up with your new toys! [Motorola]

Samsung announces Q2 results

Samsung has announced its second-quarter 2010 earnings, and the electronics giant is sitting pretty. Revenues were 37.89 trillion Korean Won (about $32 billion USD). That's a 17 percent year-over-year increase. The net income for the second quarter was 4.28 trillion Korean Won (about $3.8 billion USD).

Of interest to us -- Samsung says it sold 63.8 million handsets in the quarter, which is a 22 percent YoY increase. Samsung seems pretty open with the breakdown of all the numbers, including some interesting facts about phone pricing, their plans for smartphone market share increase through the Galaxy S line, and the LCD market overall are in the press release, which you can read after the break. [Samsung] Thanks to Professor Keith for help with the currency conversions!

Samsung releases Captivate and Vibrant source code to developers

Samsung loves open source -- today they have sent out an e-mail to interested developers with a download link to the open portions of the Captivate and Vibrant source code. (see our Captivate review here, and our Vibrant review here) Rather than trying to stifle third-party development, it looks like Samsung is embracing it, and we couldn't be happier.

To most people, this won't mean much. But to developers and ROM cookers this is a huge step and should really get the ball rolling for some amazing stuff. There's already talk of a change that will drive the benchmark scores up through the roof. Bring it, I say! [Samsung via [BriefMobile] Thanks Scepterr for the update on the Vibrant

EVO's Froyo update to bring a Flashlight app and other new goodies

Patience is a virtue. Remember that! With all the Froyo news around the web, it's a little hard to be patient though. But hey - we can't blame you. We can't wait to get our grubby paws on the Evo 4G's new Android 2.2 update. But until Aug. 3, we all need to sit tight.

In the meantime, Engadget scored some screenshots of a few little apps and features that the EVO will be getting next Tuesday. For all of you folks out there who struggle finding the right key in the dark, HTC now has you covered. It looks like the update will bring a new Flashlight app to owners of the phone. Finding that key was never easier.

In addition, it looks like HTC will allow you sync all of your Facebook events and birthdays to your calendar. Finally, if that wasn't enough, app sharing will also be made available. That is, only if the developer has not made the app copy protected. Remember what your mother said when you were young, "Remember to share Johnny." To view the rest of the screenshots, hit the source link. [Engadget]

HTC: European Desire getting Froyo OTA update this weekend

And thus, it begins. Engadget has official word from HTC that unlocked European Desires will be getting an over-the-air (OTA) update to Android 2.2 ("Froyo") this weekend. This comes hot off the heels of Sprint announcing that the Evo will see Froyo early next week, so it surely looks like HTC has gotten Sense working just fine on their current line of high-end phones. Users should be automatically notified that there is an update available.

In addition, HTC is saying that users with carrier-locked Desires will see the update in "several weeks' time." Just as a friendly reminder, they also told users that the update will not delete any existing user data, which is always a great thing.

It looks like there is going to be a ton of 2.2 update news coming in the next few weeks for HTC phones, so if you aren't a Desire or Evo owner, keep your eyes peeled. [Engadget]

Beautiful Widgets gets updated, brings AccuWeather and more

Beautiful Widgets, the application that is known for bringing a Sense like style to any device, received a nice update today. The update changed the weather service to AccuWeather, which we hope can be just a little more accurate. The menus of the application also have been updated making the application way easier to navigate. In the past, the menus were not the easiest thing to look through, they now allow users to easily set and change the many features of the application. In addition, one of the other great new features is the unlock animations, which brings some brief animations of the current condition to your homescreen after unlocking the device. If you have not checked the update out, be sure to do so. Market links after the jump.

Is this a prototype of the Samsung tablet?

Feast your eyes on the photo above, in what purportedly is a prototype of an Android tablet device from Samsung. Posted on Twitpic, the only info given is that it's seven inches, and that looks about right. There's no way of knowing how recent the picture is, and you really can't see much more than the black slab. But the translated tweets from @metabaron appear to say it's not the final design, will have a phone radio and camera, no physical buttons and will be released this year. [Twitter via notebookitalia.it and GadgetMix]

It's official -- Evo to get Froyo starting Tuesday, August 3

Sprint has just announced what we all were hoping for -- the Evo 4G will be getting Froyo starting August 3, making Sprint the first carrier to upgrade their devices to Android 2.2. Hit our story HERE to see what's included with the update. Sprint says that the OTA will roll out in stages, but they will be providing a manual download link for those of us who just can't wait. (That's you and I ) Yes, we'll have a nice set of simplified instructions to make it as easy as possible, just as soon as we get the link and the method. Check out the source link to see Sprint's official announcement. [Sprint]

Security firm details privacy concerns; developer tells us its side of the story

Let's recap: Late Wednesday night (or early Thursday morning), we reported on a storypublished at Mobile Beat that came out of the Black Hat online security conference. At the conference, Kevin MaHaffey, CTO at mobile security firm Lookout, told of an app from developer "jackeey,wallpaper," which basically is a portal for downloading wallpapers for your Android phone. The story told the tale of "a questionable Android mobile wallpaper app that collects your personal data and sends it to a mysterious site in China, (and) has been downloaded millions of times."

We've been in contact with Lookout -- which reiterates that the apps, while suspect, aren't necessarily malicious. We've also have a response from the developer in question. Updates from both, after the break.

Android Central Editors' app picks for July 29, 2010

Applications -- they make the world go 'round. OK, maybe not exactly, but there sure are a ton of great ones in the Android Market, and finding the right one can be a bit difficult. Take a look after the jump, as we bring you another edition of our weekly selections.

Froyo for the Sprint Evo 4G as early as tomorrow?

What you see above is a document leaked to Engadget, showing that Android 2.2 (Froyo) is about to roll out for the HTC Evo 4G as early as this weekend. Supposedly an announcement will be made tomorrow, and the software will be made available for users to download and manually install as a sort of test bed. Along with the update comes all sorts of new widgets and features -- flashlights, upgraded video recording quality (720p!), LED flash during video capture, and more. Looks like I'll be getting up early tomorrow to hopefully hear an announcement and download some Froyo for my Evo. Engadget has a gallery of the rest of the document right HERE, it's chock full o' changes. Now let's hope this pans out and we're not just getting set up for another disappointment. [Engadget]

Droid Incredible costs just under $164 to build, iSuppli says

A while back, the Droid Incredible was torn apart and revealed some things we never knew it was capable of. Like an FM transmitter tuner, and full 720p video recording. Recently, however, another dissection done by iSuppli Corp’s reveals that the Incredible has a $163.35 Bill of Materials (BOM) price tag. Although the Nexus One’s BOM is slightly higher – $174.15 – the materials used are almost identical except, of course, support for Verizon’s CDMA network. What adds to the price tag? That bright AMOLED screen and DDR RAM for starters, and apparently that Snapdragon CPU isn’t in the bargain bin, either. Those three components cost about $90 total, and when you add in some of the other features such as the camera, Bluetooth, and all the mechanical and electro-mechanical gizmos, it adds up pretty quickly. This goes to show that building a quality smartphone costs more than nickels and dimes to the manufacturer, but the end result is definitely worth it. [iSuppli]

Google bolsters mobile apps with expandable app 'extensions'

Back at Google IO in May, our benevolent overlords detailed their intentions to make mobile advertising more immersive, akin to Apple's iAds. Today, we're starting to see some of the fruits of that labor with AdWords location extensions. Businesses can show their location (via an embedded Google Map, natch) and clickable phone number all in an expanding and contracting ad, right inside an app. Says Google:

This new ad format is available on mobile devices with full Internet browsers and allows you to expand your advertising campaigns to reach highly engaged mobile users with relevant local information as they use their favorite apps or websites to check the weather, read the news, play games or pursue other mobile interests.

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